How you doin' spinoffs of 'Friends,' 'Raymond'? -  Chicago Sun-Times
CBS wants Ray to stay...But network exploring spinoff - New York Daily News
Raymond Controversy Erupts at TCA  - TV Guide Insider
Holding tight to what works - USA TODAY
Life after 'Raymond -  Los Angeles Times

How you doin' spinoffs of 'Friends,' 'Raymond'? - By Phil Rosenthal - Chicago Sun-Times

HOLLYWOOD--CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond" could become "Everybody Misses Raymond."

Those two possibilities were dangled this week as CBS and NBC look beyond the coming fall season to the not-too-distant future when they might have to make do with spinoffs to replace long-standing, Emmy-nominated hits.

[snip]

It's less clear whether CBS needs to replace "Everybody Loves Raymond" just yet, but it never hurts to have a safety net or threat as contract talks begin with series star Ray Romano and the show's creator, The Phil Rosenthal Who Doesn't Write for the Sun-Times.

As it stands, going into the eighth season of "Raymond," Romano and Rosenthal aren't yet under contract for a ninth year and have been making noises that they might be content to walk away from the series that's made them fabulously wealthy.

The rest of the cast are not so content. They are under contract, and the way their deals are structured is said to present serious financial incentives for them to keep the show going no matter what.

"There aren't a lot of good roles for a woman my age," said Doris Roberts, 73, who plays Romano's mother. "When you get one, you do everything you can to hold on to it."

CBS czar Leslie Moonves, meeting with reporters over the weekend, floated the possibility of a "Raymond" that doesn't include Raymond. "We're talking about a number of permutations," he said.

One fanciful scenario, according to Moonves, has Romano's sportswriter character off covering "soccer in Europe" while his brother (Brad Garrett) moves next door to Raymond's wife (Patricia Heaton), kids and parents (Roberts and Peter Boyle).

"We hope they'll stay, but [if not] we'll try to do another variation," Moonves said, later conceding, according to Daily Variety, that he was "talking out of both sides of his mouth" and the series does "sort of fall apart" without Romano and Rosenthal.

Rosenthal said he considers the whole thing "a non-story" at this time.

Romano, thanks to a deal hammered out last spring by a team that included Moonves' younger brother Jonathan, is set to earn $43 million for this season. That gives him the ability to say no to a ninth season and millions of reasons to say yes.

Moonves, meanwhile, said he plans to spend the next six months working to keep the two of them on board so he doesn't need to consider a spinoff. Not for a while, anyway.

"The rest of the cast is dying to come back," he said. "Ray is making a lot of money, as you may have read. ... I would think money should have an effect when you look at those kinds of numbers. It's very hard to walk away from that. We're working on Ray's wife and kids as well."

CBS wants Ray to stay...But network exploring spinoff  By STEPHEN BATTAGLIO - New York Daily News

HOLLYWOOD - Next season could be the last to love "Raymond." Ray Romano has no plans to be involved in his hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" beyond the 2003-04 TV season and executive producer and creator Phil Rosenthal is ready to wrap it up after eight seasons.

Count CBS among those who do not consider this good news. 

"We're working on them," CBS chairman Leslie Moonves told members of the Television Critics Association yesterday. "We're doing everything we can. [But] this could very well be its last season."

CBS recently signed Romano to a new deal that made him the highest paid TV star in history. He will get more than $40 million to do the show next season.

While Romano's deal is only for one year, the rest of the cast is signed for two more seasons. The network also has a deal with production partner HBO to keep the show through spring 2005.

But without Romano, there is no show - unless CBS were to come up with a spinoff using "Raymond" cast members Brad Garrett, Patricia Heaton, Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts. Moonves said a spinoff is not out of the question.

"We've been talking about different permutations of it," he said. "The great news we have an unbelievable supporting cast." 

Still, the loss of "Raymond" would be blow to CBS' prime time lineup. The show is the second most watched sitcom in prime time after "Friends," which is definitely leaving the NBC lineup after this season.

Moonves believes money could make a difference in getting Romano and Rosenthal back for one more year.

"I think money should have an effect when you look at those kinds of numbers," he said. "It's very hard to walk away from that."

Raymond Controversy Erupts at TCA - aymond Controversy Erupts at TCA - by Michael Ausiello - TV Guide Insider

You gotta love Les Moonves. In an era when network execs never seem to meet a politically correct, over-rehearsed, innocuous soundbite they don't like, CBS's chairman and CEO is the rare bird that speaks his mind ?regardless of the consequences. Case in point: At CBS's portion of the Television Critics press tour on Sunday, Moonves hinted to reporters that he could see his flagship comedy Everybody Loves Raymond returning in fall 2004 with or without series creator Phil Rosenthal and star Ray Romano. (Neither has committed to a ninth season yet.) "Nothing's been ruled out," Moonves confided to a few select journalists following Sunday morning's executive session. "I hope they stay. If they ultimately decide not to, we'll do everything we can to do some other variation of it." 

For a minute-by-minute recap of the day's major events ?read on.. (editied non-ELR specific information out).

10:00 am The session wraps and dozens of reporters storm the stage to ask follow-up questions. Moonves gives the first indication that Raymond could go on sans Romano and Rosenthal. And suddenly, a scandal is born.

10:05 am I corner Nancy Tellem (CBS president) and inform her of Moonves's comments re: Raymond. She seems taken aback by her partner's remarks. "It won't come back as Raymond," she counters, "I'll tell you that."

10:16 am I spot Moonves hanging in the foyer and race over to grill him further about a Romano-less Raymond. "We've talked about doing a spinoff with Brad Garrett [Robert]," he clarifies. "Robert's now married. He buys the house next door to Raymond. The parents still live across the street. Ray's now covering soccer in Europe... I don't know. It's hard to think of that, [but] nothing's been ruled out. We've got time."

10:17 am Moonves admits he'd be dumbfounded if Romano passed on a ninth season. "I don't know what's going through his head when you know how much money he's making this year... [and it's] only 88 days of work [a year]!"

10:19 am Moonves concedes that without "Phil and Ray, [the show] does sort of fall apart." Then why the heck would he consider going on without them? "The show's an A-plus," he shoots back. "If you want to give me a B-plus, I'll take it."

Holding tight to what works - By Gary Levin and Bill Keveney - USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES ?CBS is preparing for a possible life without Raymond. Star Ray Romano and series creator Phil Rosenthal have expressed skepticism about plans to go beyond the upcoming eighth season of the network's top comedy Everybody Loves Raymond, even after Romano secured a $43 million payday for the next batch of 23 episodes. 

But "the rest of the cast is dying to come back," CBS Television chairman Leslie Moonves told TV critics here Sunday. In a bit of public posturing that could be interpreted as a way to put heat on the star, Moonves says he doesn't want to give up on its gravy train, much as NBC won't let Friends go gently; that network is planning a fall spinoff starring Matt LeBlanc.

"We've talked about a spinoff with Brad Garrett: Let's say he buys the house next door, and Ray is now covering soccer in Europe, but Patty (Heaton) and the kids are still there. We hope they'll stay, but we'll try to do another variation if not." A decision is due in January.

Life after 'Raymond - By Brian Lowry - Los Angeles Times

Although much attention in TV remains focused on NBC's life ?or possible lack of it ?after "Friends" concludes its run next May, CBS could face a similar torch-passing quandary. Network executives spent Sunday discussing various contingencies for TV's second-most-watched comedy, "Everybody Loves Raymond," should that show's star and creator decide to close shop at the same time.

Addressing reporters and TV critics in Hollywood, CBS Television Chairman Leslie Moonves said that several possibilities were in play, from continuing "Raymond" without star Ray Romano to a spinoff series featuring the supporting cast. Both Romano and executive producer Phil Rosenthal have stated in recent interviews their intent to end the series after the coming season.

The network's first choice, not surprisingly, is maintaining the status quo, with Moonves saying it's his job to "work on Phil and Ray for the next six months" and persuade them to remain.

He also referred to the more than $40 million the star is reported to be earning for the coming season alone, saying, "It's very hard to walk away from that. We're working on Ray's wife and kids as well."

Romano secured his lucrative deal for the eighth season this past spring, and his representatives include attorney Jonathan Moonves, the CBS chief's younger brother.